Good morning, Baltimore: Need to know for Thursday

The Baltimore Sun

WEATHER

Today's forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies and a chance of showers, with a high temperature near 81 degrees. Thursday night is expected to be mostly cloudy, with a low temperature around 68 degrees.

First black Naval Academy graduate dies: Wesley Brown started at the academy in 1945, after the first five black men to attend failed to complete their first year there. He graduated 370th out of nearly 800 graduates in 1949, gaining national media attention, and went on to have a 20-year career in the Navy.

'Unruly' school kids cause disturbance in downtown 7-Eleven: A crowd of "unruly" school kids rushed into a downtown 7-Eleven store about 2 p.m. Wednesday for a free "Slurpee" promotion, and didn't leave until they'd caused a commotion -- allegedly shoplifting and getting into a physical altercation with the store owner.

State approves last round of school construction projects: State officials approved more than $161 million in school construction funding Wednesday that will allow school systems in the Baltimore area to undertake renovation projects, tackling problems that include sweltering and overcrowded classrooms and dilapidated buildings and amenities.

Fish kills grow in algae-tainted waters: State investigators expanded their probe Wednesday into what they believe are algae-related fish kills in Marley, Furnace and Curtis creeks in Glen Burnie, raising the estimated death toll there tenfold, while finding a new batch of finny carcasses in a Dundalk creek.

City again seeks to raise water, sewer rates: For the fourth consecutive year, Baltimore officials are proposing a 9 percent increase to water and sewer rates -- and the charges will continue to grow indefinitely to cover the costs of major projects, they say.

Mikulski plan for women's pay gets new push: A proposal to expand equal-pay protections for women, long championed by Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, was thrust into the national political spotlight Wednesday in a Democratic effort to court female voters -- a crucial demographic in this year's election.